This is Konoha !
by Lord Mist
Summary: Seeing Naruto depressed after the betrayal of Mizuki and unpleasant revelations, Sarutobi decides to give Naruto a scroll detailing some old battle. A battle at some place called Thermopylae. Can anyone say...THIS IS KONOHA !


Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's resident demon container and possibly most hated citizen, lost himself in thought. He had just beaten up that teme Mizuki, and he let his thoughts fly back to the finishing sequence of that battle. A small smile gracing his lips, he thought that he must have looked pretty badass. Uzumaki Naruto, supercool ninja, future Hokage, at your service !

The smile fell. Was he really supercool ? Academy failure, thrice, and he didn't even see through Mizuki-teme's plan…and Iruka-sensei had got hurt because of him ! Face drawn and eyes shadowed, he slowly walked into the Hokage's office.

"Hey Jiji…I'm sorry-" Naruto started, but was cut off as the Hokage hugged him.

"It's no problem, Naruto-kun…just be careful who you trust next time." The Hokage's warm brown eyes comforted Naruto, even if only a little.

Naruto's eyes flashed as he remembered what Mizuki had revealed.

"Jiji…why me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. He couldn't tell Naruto exactly why his successor – and cruelly, now his predecessor also – had sealed the Demon Lord within him. Sarutobi sighed. He was too goddamn old for this shit.

Looking over at the boy he considered his grandson, he noticed the look of shame and sorrow on Naruto's face. He knew full well it wouldn't be good for the boy if he completely waved away this indiscretion – the boy had to know after all, that he couldn't be so naïve and still be a ninja – but he didn't want Naruto to dwell on this for a long time.

_What to say, what to say…_

In the end, supposed, Sarutobi, an evasion was the best for now – but the boy needed something to take his mind off things for a while. He was struck by an idea, and made a handseal, summoning a scroll from the History Section of Konoha's Library. An odd scroll, really, though Sarutobi was sure Naruto would like the contents.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you now, Naruto-kun-" his heart almost broke, seeing the depression on Naruto's face-"but I think you need to rest a while. Why don't you just lie on that sofa and read this ? I think you'll find it interesting, my boy."

Naruto was too disheartened to protest, and silently took the scroll, trudged over to the sofa and collapsed into it, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

_A scroll ? Maybe it's some supercool ninja thing, dattebayo._ Naruto's eyes brightened as he opened the scroll and looked at it. The next second, he almost screamed_. HISTORY ? Jiji had given him some story about some boring old dead fart to read ? _

Resisting the urge to beat his head against the wall, or try throwing the scroll at the Hokage ( Naruto was sure the hidden masked ninja wouldn't like that, not one bit ) he read the first few lines of the scroll.

_**This is the story of free men, who fought against a tyrant. This is the story of a few, who fought against many. This is the story of men who showed that even a God-King could bleed…**_

Entranced, Naruto forgot about everything as he continued on with the story…

No one, save Kami-sama, would really know how much this simple act of Sarutobi's would change the fate of the entire ninja world. And she was laughing her divine backside off.

* * *

**BRRRRRRRRRIIIIING !**

Naruto's alarm rang loud and long, the boy awakening with a yelp and hurriedly rushing through his morning routine. He stopped at his apartment door, checking his pockets for his ninja gear, and silently wishing he had had time to go to the clothing store yesterday, raced off to the academy.

That simple scroll had changed Naruto's life. The scroll told in detail, the events of a battle in a certain place called Thermopylae, where a paltry 300 warriors had held off a mighty army and died a glorious, heroic death, saving their country from certain annihilation.

Naruto had a new hero now. He wasn't sure how he felt about Minato Namikaze anymore – the man was cool and all, but he did seal the Kyuubi into him – but he was sure that he wanted to be like this man, King Leonidas. He was sure he wanted to be… a Spartan.

Kami-sama was at this point rolling on the floor of her heavenly palace, laughing, while the minor gods watched with a mixture of confusion and wonder.

Uzumaki Naruto was definitely not expecting a warm welcome when he stepped into the academy that day, but he was still slightly hurt by the number of disbelievers. It had all started with a loud, "CHA! NARUTO NO BAKA, THIS IS FOR PEOPLE WHO PASSED !" from Sakura, and gone downhill from there, with Kiba pointing out rather harshly that, 'in his opinion this place wasn't for losers', Shikamaru calling him 'troublesome' ( in retrospect, that wasn't surprising ), and Ami, the class's female bully, claiming that he must have begged the Hokage to let him pass.

"How badly did you need to beg to get in, dead-last?" taunted Ami.

Naruto wanted to deck her, he really did. But he had sworn to follow the Spartan path. He would not make excuses. It was true that he was the dead-last. And he never, ever, would be like Xerxes-teme, who Leonidas had said had some flaw, what was it called, hubert ? hubrer ? Whatever it was, thought Naruto philosophically, it had something to do with getting angry when people insulted you. Or at least, he thought it did. Oh well. Naruto silently pointed to his headband and walked over to the seat beside Shino at the back, and settled in, ignoring all else around him.

He saw Iruka enter the room and make some long speech, which he tuned out, only listening again when the team placements were being announced.

" Team 7 will consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto." said Iruka, and went to continue, before he was cut off by a loud "CHA! TAKE THAT, INO-PIG, TRUE LOVE CONQUERS ALL!"

Iruka cleared his throat, caught Sakura's eye, glared and went back to reading out the teams.

Sasuke wondered how soon a person could file a transfer request.

* * *

Naruto was bored. Every other team had gone, for Kami's sake, and he had been waiting here three hours ! Three hours ! For some stupid jonin who wouldn't turn up. Swearing to himself, Naruto wished he could have gone out somewhere. He could have even finished buying his new wardrobe and things ! GAH !

Sasuke would have looked bored, but the expression of boredom clashed horribly with his scowl, and he preferred to maintain his scowl. After all, if he were to kill Itachi, it wouldn't be through looking bored. What sort of S-Class Missing-Nin would be killed by someone who looked bored and sleepy, anyways ?

Far, far, away, a silver-haired missing ninja and Jashinist sneezed.

Sakura wasn't bored. She had had three hours, three hours ! to just stare at her beloved Sasuke-kun and take in all his hotness.

When Hatake Kakashi walked in, he was met with two looks of relief ( Sasuke had begun to worry Sakura might try something if she stared at him some more ) and one glare from a pinkette who wanted more Sasuke-time.

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Kakashi smiled, mask crinkling up and eye half-closing, "My first impression of you guys is…you're boring. Meet me on the roof." With a wave, the silver-haired ninja disappeared.

Sasuke glared at the spot where the Jounin had earlier been, seething inwardly that this man would dare to call him boring. The last of the Uchiha, boring ? He would have to show that man what he could do.

Naruto wondered how the man could call broody-teme and himself boring. And Sakura-chan was just so pretty ! …With a dejected sigh, he trudged up the stairs to the roof, trailing behind annoyed Sakura and Sasuke. He would just have to show the sensei just how unpredictable and un-boring, Uzumaki Naruto could be, dattebayo !

* * *

Once on the roof, and settled down, their Sensei smiled again, and said, "Why don't you introduce yourself, chibi-students ?"

Sakura timidly raised her hand. "How, Sensei ?"

"Well, I'll start just to help you along. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have likes, and dislikes. My hobbies are personal and not for chibis, and I don't really have an ambition." He giggled. "Now how about you, Broody ?"

Naruto snorted. _Someone else had finally realized broody-teme's broodiness_.

Sasuke glared."My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have a few things I like, and many things I dislike. I have no hobbies, and my ambition…is to kill a certain man."

Kakashi sighed inwardly, but maintained his smile. _Really, when would these avenger-types learn? _

"Well, aren't you just a little ball of sunshine. What about you, Pinky ?"

Sakura giggled. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like Sasuke-kun" She giggled again, "I dislike Ino-pig and Naruto baka ! My hobbies are reading and flower arrangement, and my ambition is to…" , she giggled again while staring at Sasuke, who was slowly inching away from her.

Kakashi had to admit he was disturbed as well, but put up a brave front and turned to Naruto. "And you, Blondie ?"

Naruto stood up. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto ! I like ramen, training and Sakura-chan ! I dislike the time it takes for ramen to cook and traitors." Naruto really, really, hated Ephialtes, or as he called him, hunchback-teme. "My hobby is gardening, and my ambition is to become a great Spartan warrior and Hokage!"

_A Spartan ?_ mused Kakashi. _What's a Spartan ? I have to ask Hokage-sama about this._

"Well, kiddies," replied Kakashi, "meet me tomorrow at training grounds 7, for your final test. Only if you pass this test will you be fully-fledged genin ! Be there at 8, no lateness, and a word of warning – don't eat, or you will throw up. Ja ne !" With a cheery wave, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Another test?" groaned Sakura.

"Hn.", grunted Sasuke, before walking away to train.

Naruto bounded off the roof eagerly. He had things to buy ! Oh, wouldn't everyone be surprised tomorrow…with a silent chuckle, he headed in the direction of the merchant district.

* * *

And that's a wrap ! I'm not sticking to historical accuracy, I'm following the movie more, because, let's face it, the movie is infinitely better than any truth.

I'm ESL, so please ignore any small grammatical errors. Review please, and comments are always appreciated !

Ja ne !


End file.
